Get to Know Us.
We’re a seasoned team, lean by choice, expansive on purpose — scaling up as needed through a network of collaborators to bring depth, agility, and the kind of perspective that shifts the conversation.
Together by Design.
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• Co-founder TOKONEXT
• Founder of TALENTSTAR with Frank O. Gehry as first client and HOK as second
• Consultant + Recruiter with The Coxe Group (with mentor Weld Coxe)
• Scaled A/ID startup from 15 to 85 as partner + governance lead — RMW architecture + interiors, San Francisco
• Entry into design firm management at Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM), San Francisco
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• Curating connections
• Talent strategy + next-gen development
• Leadership readiness + ownership succession
• Practice design + organizational evolution
• Strategic positioning for design-first firms
• Growth strategy, including mergers + acquisitions
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• Focuses on what’s next
• Connects talent, leadership, and vision into strategy + activation
• Cuts through noise to get unstuck + flip the switch for forward momentum
• Guides ambition from hopes + dreams to clear, aligned, strategic direction
• Anticipates leadership challenges before they emerge
• Loves learning, especially from younger people
• Entranced by language — from syntax to communication
• Tech-savvy perennial who champions plug+play operability (aka energy grid)
• Design Advocate — now and forever
• Ask Minerva, dea ex machina
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• Chair of Exec Board + fractional CEO for BLINK Design Group — a luxury hospitality design firm in Asia
• Taught professional practice for 15 years in the Harvard GSD Executive Education Program
• Guest lecturer in professional practice at Harvard GSD, Kansas State APDesign, Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), AIA AAH C2, AIA/NY Future of Practice
• Presenter at KA Connect 2011 and Monograph (videos)
• Contributor for The Architecture of Vision (book) by Craig Park + Barbara Shuck
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Co-founder TOKONEXT
Former Principal, Gaines International — Retained Search
Talent strategist + leadership advisor for creative + innovation-driven firms
Two decades across recruitment, career coaching, and workforce development
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Translating business vision into actionable people strategies
Executive search + leadership alignment rooted in purpose
Defining roles and rethinking structures for scalable growth
Succession planning + preparing next-gen leaders
Building clarity across teams, systems, and culture
Guiding leaders and organizations through transition and transformation
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Steadiness + insight — listens deeply, finds what’s missing, and charts the way forward
Balances empathy and precision to empower confident decisions
Aligns roles, expectations, and collaboration for high-performing teams
Leads with calm candor and clear direction, enabling progress amid complexity
Turns ambiguity into systems, structure, and purposeful action
Believes every hire and change is a chance to shape the future—with people at the center
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• Founder, Plotlines LLC (aka Elevate Your Story)
• Strategic communications advisor with PR, content, and social expertise
• Former corporate comms leader turned go-to ghostwriter and brand voice partner
• Trusted by firms to shape narrative and elevate presence -
• Turning complexity into clarity
• Crafting messages that connect across platforms
• Coaching leaders to own and share their story
• Building visibility with authenticity and precision -
• Distills positioning into compelling language
• Brings structure to scattered ideas
• Fuses empathy with editorial muscle
• Helps firms and founders find their voice
• Makes your message stick — and matter• Pioneer in social media strategy, creating the Life at HOK blog that became the standard for the AEC industry.
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• Co-founder TOKONEXT
• Founder of TOKOCreative —
15+ years of brand + strategy• Strategic partner at TALENTSTAR
• Co-founder cleverSPIN and WEETU — agile studios blending space + brand + web
• Director Corporate Interiors at Eva Maddox Branded Environments, Chicago
• Associate Principal at STUDIOS Architecture, DC
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• Purpose-to-presence alignment
• Culture + communications strategy
• Rebrands + market shifts
• Business development through a design lens
• Coaching for leadership + next-gen teams
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• Threads strategy through brand, culture, and operations
• Makes complexity feel simple and actionable
• Turns vision into positioning — and positioning into traction
• Balances empathy and structure to guide high-stakes change
• Realigns teams to refocus momentum
• Brings joy to everything she does
• Known as the Creativity Ninja
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Guest lecturer in professional practice at Kansas State APDesign
Presenter Monograph (videos)
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• Licensed architect + educator redefining modern practice
• Co-founder of CLOG and guest editor of Harvard Design Magazine
• Former Senior Director at WeWork + Design Strategy Lead at Saltmine
• Assistant Professor at Harvard GSD | Leadership roles in AIA New York -
• Blending architecture, education, and research
• Navigating the future of design practice
• Rethinking how firms scale, build, and communicate
• Connecting systems thinking with creative exploration -
• Sees design as ecosystem, not output
• Makes big ideas accessible and actionable
• Bridges tradition with transformation
• Guides next-gen architects with empathy and insight
• Architect of both space and strategy
Values that ground us and expand our thinking.
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Curiosity.
We question and challenge the assumptions that hold firms back. Curiosity fuels our insight, sharpens our thinking, and helps us uncover what others might miss.
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People.
We focus on relationships and nurture growth — believing that leadership, culture, and clarity all begin with how people show up — for themselves and each other
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Future Focus.
We think ahead. Change is constant, but the ability to anticipate, adapt, and stay relevant is what sets firms apart
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Partnerships.
We dive in, embed, collaborate, and co-create — translating strategy into action and possibility into progress.
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Purposeful.
Purpose gives our work direction, aligns people, sharpens decisions, and keeps everyone moving with intention
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Reinvention.
Staying static isn’t an option. We believe in progress over perfection and create space for learning, reinvention, and bold momentum.
